Breath of Fire: A Frozen Fate
Chapter 3: Storm of Fate
Dyne slowly opened his eyes. He yawned, and rubbed them with his hands. His eyes quickly adjusted to the morning light and he looked over to Ryu's bed. It was empty, along with all his belongings. All that was left was a note on top of the pillow. Dyne picked it up and read it.
"Dyne, sorry if I surprised you by not being here, but I really have no business in Wyndia. The reason I came with you is cause I'm looking for a place that is nearer to Wyndia than your inn, but still far away. But since you were nice enough to pick me up in your jeep, I left a small gift for you in my bedside drawer. We'll probably never meet again, so don't think about repaying me or anything.- Ryu"
Dyne checked the bedside drawer and sure enough, there was a small bag with several hundred zenny inside it.
"Man, that Ryu guy sure is nice. Not many drifters givin' away money like this nowadays. Shame that he left so quick." He quietly said to himself as he examined the bag.
**********
Nina stood on the balcony of her father's mansion, watching the sun above the horizon. It wasn't too common to see a day this sunny due to frequent snowstorms, so she tried to suck in as much of the beauty as she can. She was so immersed in the view that she barely heard her father, Mantine Windson, the leader of Wyndia.
"Nina! What are you doing out there!? You haven't eaten your breakfast!" He shouted. Nina sighed she ran her hands through her long blonde hair as she spread her wings and felt the morning breeze as much as she could before she turned around and walked back into the mansion. Despite living one of the most luxurious lives in the world, she has still almost never stepped outside the mansion in her life. The only wilderness she has ever seen is the small amount she could view from her balcony. Although wyndians could use their wings to fly, it took a good amount of training and the way Nina has been living meant that it would take months before she could use her wings effectively.
It was another boring day for her. There were many books lying on the bookshelves in her room, but she had read every one of them ten times over. And her father refused to try and get new books from the outside world. She had no idea why, but with the strictness of her father she was afraid to ask. Although no one realized it, her life was miserable. She couldn't stand living like this for much longer.
It was about noon when the door to her room opened up and her father entered. The usual strict and stern look on his face wasn't there, instead it was replaced with a smile. It wasn't normal for Nina's father to look this cheerful.
"Nina, I've been thinking for the past few weeks, how I've always kept you cooped up in this big house, never letting you breath any fresh air. Maybe it's time you saw the world a little." He explained. Although Nina's facial expression didn't change much, a great feeling of joy started growing deep inside her. "There will be a small competition between sharpshooters in the nearby wilderness tommorow. They will hunt animals in the wild and you and me will watch them from a safe tent with binoculars. It will be just as safe as the mansion, but atleast you'll get to go outside a little, right?"
With that, Mantine smiled one last time and left the room. The fact that she wasn't going to travel very far decreased the happiness inside Nina, but the sheer thought that she was going to leave this wretched mansion meant that this was still a great occasion to look forward to.
The next day Nina and her father were sitting in a jeep heading into the wilderness surrounding Wyndia. There were several other jeeps behind them and in front of them. Nina was excited, but she kept her calm and admired the view. Eventually the convoy of jeeps drew to a stop. Mantine took a look around.
"So this is where the snow deer roam?" He asked nobody in particular.
"Yes sir." Replied the driver.
"So let's set up camp!"
The convoy stopped and all the hunters and drivers got out and started unloading the supplies. It took almost half an hour, but soon enough the camp was set up. Nina and Mantine sat in a small shaded area with two powerful binoculars. As the hunters set out towards a distant deer herd, Mantine kept his binoculars concentrated on them. As for Nina, she was pointing her own pair in all directions, admiring the snow-kissed landscape.
Around ten minutes later, the first shot rang out. Nina, quickly pointed her binoculars at the distant deer herd. One young deer was dead on the ground, blood pouring out of it's neck. Just as Nina started feeling sorry for it, more shots rang out, and more deer fell. Nina had never imagined that hunting would be this horrible, so lowered her binoculars and turned towards her father, who was excitedly looking at the action with a large grin on his face.
She opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated, knowing how her father can turn from a good-mannered man to a raging tyrant in a few seconds. She just sighed, tried to push the image of the bleeding deer out of her head, and started admiring the landscape without paying attentions to the distant gunshots.
But not for long. Several minutes later, her father lowered his binoculars and looked up at the sky in fear. One of the strangest and dangerous natural phenomenoms of this world was occuring. It was a Flash Blizzard, extremely powerful snow storms that seemed to appear out of thin air. Even the surviving ancient computers can only predict this disaster mere minutes before it starts. It has baffled scientists for centuries.
As if on cue, the world grew darker as the speedy concentration of black clouds blocked out the sun, the winds suddenly strengthened immensely, the gunshots in the distance stopped as the hunters realized what was about to happen. Within a few minutes visibility had been lowered to a few meters.
"Nina quick! Get to a tent!" Shouted Mantine as he quickly got up from his chair and walked towards one. Nina quickly followed him to the nearest tent. Her father got in first, and just as she reached for the opening flap to climb in herself, it happened.
For a second or so, the winds accelerated to an extremely and unbelievably high speed. This caused the parked jeeps' wheels to lift a couple of feet off the ground, the chairs and canopy of the sitting area were blown away like feathers, the tents would have followed suit if they weren't packed with people.
As for the small and light Nina, the strong gust of wind blew her clean off her feet, and made her temporarily airborne. Her wings instinctively spread a bit, which didn't help. within a few seconds she roughly hit the snow. She stood up and brushed the snow off her, then looked around for camp. Although it was a few seconds' walk away, she could barely see more than a yard.
"Father!" she shouted. Her voice was drowned out by the wind the instant it left her mouth.
"Father!" She tried again, but it was still useless.
Panicking, she ran in the direction that she thought led to the camp. After several seconds of running, it was obvious she was going to the wrong way, but she ran on anyway. She wasn't sure how long she ran. It may have been minutes. It may have been hours. But she kept on running, hoping that something would happen.
Another very powerful gust of wind blew, and once again Nina was sent flying. Except this time, instead of a smooth landing on the snow, her head smashed into a tree and everything went black.
**********
The next morning, Dyne stepped out of the inn. He looked as teams of citizens started shoveling the snow off the streets.
"Phew, that storm yesterday sure was strong." He remarked to himself. Then he remembered that he didn't have a vehicle, as he had sold the jeep the day before, so the journey back to his own inn was going to be long. But it was going to be worth it, as he had made a small fortune the day before on the market. He grinned at the thought of John's face.
He walked towards the edge of the settlement, on his way he overheard a conversation between two humans.
"I heard that Mantine's daughter went missing in yesterday's storm." Said the first.
"Missing? The way that guy treats his girl makes me think she just wandered out of her room!" Laughed the second human.
Dyne thought about it for a moment, but his mind quickly returned to the journey and the money he made, so within a few seconds he was on his way again.
To be continued...
AUTHOR's NOTE: Okay, I know it has been quite a while since I last posted a chapter for this fic, and for the time it took this chapter is a bit short and boring, but I had a severe case of writer's block so I needed to just get this chapter out of the way. I swear that the plot is going to pick up next chapter, the first three are just an introduction to the world and characters. Since my mind is free now, expect the next chapter to be up a bit faster than this one.
And for those wondering, while Dyne may be out of the fic for a while, I don't throw good characters away for no reason. That's all I'm going to say.
Oh yeah, and thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 2, and please review this one!
Chapter 3: Storm of Fate
Dyne slowly opened his eyes. He yawned, and rubbed them with his hands. His eyes quickly adjusted to the morning light and he looked over to Ryu's bed. It was empty, along with all his belongings. All that was left was a note on top of the pillow. Dyne picked it up and read it.
"Dyne, sorry if I surprised you by not being here, but I really have no business in Wyndia. The reason I came with you is cause I'm looking for a place that is nearer to Wyndia than your inn, but still far away. But since you were nice enough to pick me up in your jeep, I left a small gift for you in my bedside drawer. We'll probably never meet again, so don't think about repaying me or anything.- Ryu"
Dyne checked the bedside drawer and sure enough, there was a small bag with several hundred zenny inside it.
"Man, that Ryu guy sure is nice. Not many drifters givin' away money like this nowadays. Shame that he left so quick." He quietly said to himself as he examined the bag.
**********
Nina stood on the balcony of her father's mansion, watching the sun above the horizon. It wasn't too common to see a day this sunny due to frequent snowstorms, so she tried to suck in as much of the beauty as she can. She was so immersed in the view that she barely heard her father, Mantine Windson, the leader of Wyndia.
"Nina! What are you doing out there!? You haven't eaten your breakfast!" He shouted. Nina sighed she ran her hands through her long blonde hair as she spread her wings and felt the morning breeze as much as she could before she turned around and walked back into the mansion. Despite living one of the most luxurious lives in the world, she has still almost never stepped outside the mansion in her life. The only wilderness she has ever seen is the small amount she could view from her balcony. Although wyndians could use their wings to fly, it took a good amount of training and the way Nina has been living meant that it would take months before she could use her wings effectively.
It was another boring day for her. There were many books lying on the bookshelves in her room, but she had read every one of them ten times over. And her father refused to try and get new books from the outside world. She had no idea why, but with the strictness of her father she was afraid to ask. Although no one realized it, her life was miserable. She couldn't stand living like this for much longer.
It was about noon when the door to her room opened up and her father entered. The usual strict and stern look on his face wasn't there, instead it was replaced with a smile. It wasn't normal for Nina's father to look this cheerful.
"Nina, I've been thinking for the past few weeks, how I've always kept you cooped up in this big house, never letting you breath any fresh air. Maybe it's time you saw the world a little." He explained. Although Nina's facial expression didn't change much, a great feeling of joy started growing deep inside her. "There will be a small competition between sharpshooters in the nearby wilderness tommorow. They will hunt animals in the wild and you and me will watch them from a safe tent with binoculars. It will be just as safe as the mansion, but atleast you'll get to go outside a little, right?"
With that, Mantine smiled one last time and left the room. The fact that she wasn't going to travel very far decreased the happiness inside Nina, but the sheer thought that she was going to leave this wretched mansion meant that this was still a great occasion to look forward to.
The next day Nina and her father were sitting in a jeep heading into the wilderness surrounding Wyndia. There were several other jeeps behind them and in front of them. Nina was excited, but she kept her calm and admired the view. Eventually the convoy of jeeps drew to a stop. Mantine took a look around.
"So this is where the snow deer roam?" He asked nobody in particular.
"Yes sir." Replied the driver.
"So let's set up camp!"
The convoy stopped and all the hunters and drivers got out and started unloading the supplies. It took almost half an hour, but soon enough the camp was set up. Nina and Mantine sat in a small shaded area with two powerful binoculars. As the hunters set out towards a distant deer herd, Mantine kept his binoculars concentrated on them. As for Nina, she was pointing her own pair in all directions, admiring the snow-kissed landscape.
Around ten minutes later, the first shot rang out. Nina, quickly pointed her binoculars at the distant deer herd. One young deer was dead on the ground, blood pouring out of it's neck. Just as Nina started feeling sorry for it, more shots rang out, and more deer fell. Nina had never imagined that hunting would be this horrible, so lowered her binoculars and turned towards her father, who was excitedly looking at the action with a large grin on his face.
She opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated, knowing how her father can turn from a good-mannered man to a raging tyrant in a few seconds. She just sighed, tried to push the image of the bleeding deer out of her head, and started admiring the landscape without paying attentions to the distant gunshots.
But not for long. Several minutes later, her father lowered his binoculars and looked up at the sky in fear. One of the strangest and dangerous natural phenomenoms of this world was occuring. It was a Flash Blizzard, extremely powerful snow storms that seemed to appear out of thin air. Even the surviving ancient computers can only predict this disaster mere minutes before it starts. It has baffled scientists for centuries.
As if on cue, the world grew darker as the speedy concentration of black clouds blocked out the sun, the winds suddenly strengthened immensely, the gunshots in the distance stopped as the hunters realized what was about to happen. Within a few minutes visibility had been lowered to a few meters.
"Nina quick! Get to a tent!" Shouted Mantine as he quickly got up from his chair and walked towards one. Nina quickly followed him to the nearest tent. Her father got in first, and just as she reached for the opening flap to climb in herself, it happened.
For a second or so, the winds accelerated to an extremely and unbelievably high speed. This caused the parked jeeps' wheels to lift a couple of feet off the ground, the chairs and canopy of the sitting area were blown away like feathers, the tents would have followed suit if they weren't packed with people.
As for the small and light Nina, the strong gust of wind blew her clean off her feet, and made her temporarily airborne. Her wings instinctively spread a bit, which didn't help. within a few seconds she roughly hit the snow. She stood up and brushed the snow off her, then looked around for camp. Although it was a few seconds' walk away, she could barely see more than a yard.
"Father!" she shouted. Her voice was drowned out by the wind the instant it left her mouth.
"Father!" She tried again, but it was still useless.
Panicking, she ran in the direction that she thought led to the camp. After several seconds of running, it was obvious she was going to the wrong way, but she ran on anyway. She wasn't sure how long she ran. It may have been minutes. It may have been hours. But she kept on running, hoping that something would happen.
Another very powerful gust of wind blew, and once again Nina was sent flying. Except this time, instead of a smooth landing on the snow, her head smashed into a tree and everything went black.
**********
The next morning, Dyne stepped out of the inn. He looked as teams of citizens started shoveling the snow off the streets.
"Phew, that storm yesterday sure was strong." He remarked to himself. Then he remembered that he didn't have a vehicle, as he had sold the jeep the day before, so the journey back to his own inn was going to be long. But it was going to be worth it, as he had made a small fortune the day before on the market. He grinned at the thought of John's face.
He walked towards the edge of the settlement, on his way he overheard a conversation between two humans.
"I heard that Mantine's daughter went missing in yesterday's storm." Said the first.
"Missing? The way that guy treats his girl makes me think she just wandered out of her room!" Laughed the second human.
Dyne thought about it for a moment, but his mind quickly returned to the journey and the money he made, so within a few seconds he was on his way again.
To be continued...
AUTHOR's NOTE: Okay, I know it has been quite a while since I last posted a chapter for this fic, and for the time it took this chapter is a bit short and boring, but I had a severe case of writer's block so I needed to just get this chapter out of the way. I swear that the plot is going to pick up next chapter, the first three are just an introduction to the world and characters. Since my mind is free now, expect the next chapter to be up a bit faster than this one.
And for those wondering, while Dyne may be out of the fic for a while, I don't throw good characters away for no reason. That's all I'm going to say.
Oh yeah, and thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 2, and please review this one!
